If MG wants younger bigger and meaner this guy might be a decent choice, he's ranked 25th by THN

Tom Wilson THW Close-Up:

Date of birth: 3/29/1994

Place of birth: Toronto, Canada

Ht: 6’4″ Wt: 194 lbs

Shoots: Right

Position: RW

Draft eligibility: 2012

Wilson plays like Milan Lucic

I’ve always gravitated towards power forwards in the NHL and Tom Wilson seems to be no exception. With his mammoth size, bruising physical play and mental toughness, it is no wonder why Wilson continues to move up the rankings charts. Last year, Wilson only played in 28 games and scored a measly six points, but his presence was felt on the PIM sheet. As a 16 year-old, scouts knew they were only seeing a single aspect of Wilson’s overall potential.

In an offseason where the Plymouth Whalers gained statesmen JT Miller and Danny Vanderwiel, on top of a solid returning class featuring the likes of Rickard Rakell, Stefan Noesen, Garrett Meurs and Austin Levi, Tom Wilson found himself in an optimum position surrounded by top level prospects to showcase his talents this season. He has become an integral part of the Whalers’ success this season as the team sits two points behind the London Knights in the Western Conference, good for 2nd overall.

The biggest improvement Tom has made from last season has been his skating. Where he once was a very choppy skater, Wilson has honed his skills tremendously over the course of a season. For a “big man” it isn’t very often you see shifty moves like the ones Wilson has, but that’s where his style of play becomes deceptive for other teams. If he won’t beat you with his body, he will certainly take advantage with his stickwork. His shot certainly has a great deal of speed behind it, but he needs to work on his release. A knock on him throughout the season is his consistency; some games he has “it” and some games he doesn’t.

Overall, Wilson is tough to gauge in terms of potential. He could top out as a top-6 winger capable of putting up points or fit nicely in a bottom-6 role as an enforcer/checking line winger. The beautiful thing about a prospect of Wilson’s caliber is that he is able to be slotted anywhere in the lineup. In all honesty, I can see him going in the late first or early second round in this year’s Draft.

Scout’s Honor:

“Punishing winger with decent hands and promise in slot anchoring. Skating is a work in progress but his impact as an imposing offensive corner punisher is undeniable. Not destined to be a 20-goal NHLer, but will have merit down low and in front, as he brings nastiness and grit.” – Jay Carlos, MyNHLDraft.com

“Wilson is a very imposing winger who has thrived with the Plymouth Whalers this season as a forward who brings plenty of size, grit, and physicality to the team’s lineup. Wilson is versatile and has enough ability to play with skilled players while playing a physical role. His skating has steadily improved and his willingness to take the body with his size creates a lot of space for teammates. He’s good in the corners on the cycle and does a good job wearing down opposing teams as well. It is concerning that he only has 6 goals while playing with players like Stefan Noesen, Rickard Rakell, and JT Miller, but Wilson is a player who is likely going to take some time to grow into his frame and find out just how high his ceiling is.” – The Scouting Report

“At 6’4″ Wilson possesses tremendous size which he uses to his advantage. He seems to relish the physical game, uses his size to battle along the boards, drive to the net, and park himself in front of opposing goaltenders to cause havoc. Once he adds some bulk to his frame, he’ll be a force. Wilson has a finishing touch. They may not always be the prettiest goals, but he knows just what to do and where to go to clean up the trash and deposit pucks into the net. He has already established a strong two way game. His skating is above average. We can’t say enough about his physicality.” – 2012 OHL Draft Eligible Players

From the Central Combine testing

Among other standouts in the physical tests were Thomas Wilson (a potential first round selection) and Chris Calnan. Wilson, a big, tough winger, who plays for the OHL Plymouth Whalers, ranked high in the anaerobic and aerobic exercises, leg strength, hand strength, the bench press, and in push ups.

Sounda alot like Kassian,including the RW position. I'd like to see the canucks get another center or defenseman if possible with their first round pick unless they do a trade to achieve the same. I think Kessler's game could be on the decline offensively and he might be a better fit on the 3rd line in the near future leaving a big need for a top 6 center.

I know it is off subject , but I am travelling to Vancouver 20th Sept . Can anyone help me to find out if any trial games are being played and how would I get 4 tickets . Coming from Australia . Thanks

I know it is off subject , but I am travelling to Vancouver 20th Sept . Can anyone help me to find out if any trial games are being played and how would I get 4 tickets . Coming from Australia . Thanks

That being said when discussing who to select with a first round pick, a forward whose best scouting reports include phrases like "not destined to be a 20 goal scorer" - so we're talking about a guy without the offensive upside of Chris Higgins - is not high on my list.

I've seen others who do follow juniors say that Wilson's failure to dominate as a man among boys is troubling and it makes sense to me.

That being said when discussing who to select with a first round pick, a forward whose best scouting reports include phrases like "not destined to be a 20 goal scorer" - so we're talking about a guy without the offensive upside of Chris Higgins - is not high on my list.

I've seen others who do follow juniors say that Wilson's failure to dominate as a man among boys is troubling and it makes sense to me.

Could be you're correct. I don't think you're going to get a prolific scorer at the 26th spot. I liked this bit though "Wilson plays like Milan Lucic " That low in the draft I think it tends to be either pure luck or it's a depp draft which 2012 is not supposed to be. The avaerage for getting an NHL player in the 1st round is 60% but if you think chnaces are the first 15 selections are likely about a 100 % then the lower end has to be around 25%

Fred wrote:I don't think you're going to get a prolific scorer at the 26th spot.

Probably not. Certainly not if you take a guy with limited upside (not just Wilson but Patrick White, Nathan Smith types too).

But, I went back and looked at the 2002-2006 drafts (it's pretty likely we know who is going to make it out of those drafts at this point) at the players picked in the 20-30 range.. that's 50 players.. and I see names like Claude Giroux, Patrik Berglund, TJ Oshie, Travis Zajac, Andrej Meszaros, Brent Burns, Kesler, Mike Richards, Corey Perry..

That 2003 draft really fleshes things out of course but there are guys going in that range who end up producing at the NHL level, some a whole lot. There are definitely players left on the board at that point with big upside, they just aren't "can't miss" picks like the guys who go top five or ten.

The avaerage for getting an NHL player in the 1st round is 60% but if you think chnaces are the first 15 selections are likely about a 100 % then the lower end has to be around 25%

Well again in the range I looked at I counted well over 20 NHLers, I'd say it's upwards of 40%.

If available, Wilson would be an intriguing pick, but it all depends on the offensive upside Gillis & co. see in him. Wilson has also been injury prone, and for a guy who plays the type of physical game that he does, this could be a problem. Is he likely to be a 20+ goal scorer in the NHL? Someone like Samuelsson might have less upside but a safer pick. Other forwards that might be intriguing depending on where the Canucks have them projected are Laughton and Sissons.

I don't follow junior all that much but with Wilson it may also depend on what his injuries are. Are they the injuries of a tall guy likely in need of adding a 25-30 pounds of muscle or are they chronic type injuries (or can they become chronic)?

•Of the 494 career players drafted in the 1990s, 160 were selected in the first round. •Of those 160 career players, over half have played more than 500 NHL games. •Among the older players (those drafted from 1990 to 1994), six first-round picks have made it to 1,000 games. Another couple of dozen are still active and within reach of 1,000. •Based on the 1990s sample, a first-round draft pick has a 63 percent chance of being a career player. Results can vary widely from year to year:

•The 1993 NHL Draft produced 22 career players from 26 first-round picks. •In 1999, less than half of the first-round selections went on to become career players (12 out of 28). Beyond the first round.

This is where the NHL dream begins to fade in a hurry:

•From 1990 to 1999, about one-quarter of the players selected in the second round turned into NHL career players. Those drafted in the third round and beyond are really up against it.

•From over 2,000 players selected in the third round and beyond during 1990s, just 261 made it as NHL career players. That's about 12 percent.

dbr wrote:That being said when discussing who to select with a first round pick, a forward whose best scouting reports include phrases like "not destined to be a 20 goal scorer" - so we're talking about a guy without the offensive upside of Chris Higgins - is not high on my list.

I've seen others who do follow juniors say that Wilson's failure to dominate as a man among boys is troubling and it makes sense to me.

Are you talking about Wilson? The best scouting reports I've seen had him had him pegged as potentially developing into a legitimate powerforward in the NHL. As for Wilson not dominating as a man among boys, Wilson dominated physically and when given an opportunity showed that he could score (check his playoff stats). Lucic's development has really opened doors for guys like Wilson who's goal scoring totals in his draft year are less than ideal.

Fred wrote:I don't think you're going to get a prolific scorer at the 26th spot. I liked this bit though "Wilson plays like Milan Lucic " That low in the draft I think it tends to be either pure luck or it's a depp draft which 2012 is not supposed to be.

The 2012 draft is interesting because of all the injuries that happened with many of the top prospects. Prior to this year, the 2012 draft was actually seen as a deep draft. Regardless, if you look at the picks 26th and to the end of the 2nd round since just before the lockout, you can find a profilic scorer in each of those drafts (discounting the recent ones since we need more time for that).

I guess it comes down to how Gillis & co. view Wilson. Wilson has home-run potential but is also considered a safe pick because he's likely going to make the NHL as a bottom 6 player at worst. At this point in time, the Gillis can keep picking talented projects and try to develop them or try to draft what is considered a safe pick and pick a guy projected to be a championship team contributor (#4 Dman or 3rd line character player).

tantalum wrote:I don't follow junior all that much but with Wilson it may also depend on what his injuries are. Are they the injuries of a tall guy likely in need of adding a 25-30 pounds of muscle or are they chronic type injuries (or can they become chronic)?

I read that two years ago he had severed wrist tendons and this year he had sprained MCL and broken knuckle from his fight against Thrower in the prospects game.

dbr wrote:That being said when discussing who to select with a first round pick, a forward whose best scouting reports include phrases like "not destined to be a 20 goal scorer" - so we're talking about a guy without the offensive upside of Chris Higgins - is not high on my list.

I've seen others who do follow juniors say that Wilson's failure to dominate as a man among boys is troubling and it makes sense to me.

Are you talking about Wilson? The best scouting reports I've seen had him had him pegged as potentially developing into a legitimate powerforward in the NHL. As for Wilson not dominating as a man among boys, Wilson dominated physically and when given an opportunity showed that he could score (check his playoff stats). Lucic's development has really opened doors for guys like Wilson who's goal scoring totals in his draft year are less than ideal.

Yeah the quote I used was directly from one of the scouting reports Fred posted. If most others see his potential as higher than that, great.

His career trajectory does look similar to Lucic's at this point, and whoever bets on that continuing is going to get a gem if does. Of course, I thought the story on Lucic was that he beat the odds developing so quickly after his draft year but if Wilson does the same we might start seeing kids who appear to be putting it all together just months before the draft going in the middle of the first round or even higher..

dbr wrote:His career trajectory does look similar to Lucic's at this point, and whoever bets on that continuing is going to get a gem if does. Of course, I thought the story on Lucic was that he beat the odds developing so quickly after his draft year but if Wilson does the same we might start seeing kids who appear to be putting it all together just months before the draft going in the middle of the first round or even higher..

I think we already have seen kids, putting it all together just months before the draft and moving up the draft, especially when we're talking about kids with size and a strong combine. Scouts are always trying to project where a prospect will be in a few years time and teams like swinging for the fences.